Sandy, If you don't have an AV program configured CORRECTLY, it WILL miss malicious codes. You must be sure it is set to "scan ALL files" in BOTH any "real time scanner" and "manual scan". They are usually NOT set this way be default.
That boot sector warning can come up if you have done any MS updates, and if some AV software is warning you about it, and you let it fix it, that can mess things up! Since they don't know it's an update that did it, they treat it as a boot sector virus and "fix" the HD back to a previous state before any updates, therefore the possibility of messing it up. Usually with that type of warning there is more text that may sometimes say something along the lines of "(if you have updated your OS recently, this could be the cause)". Did you try the scan by selecting specific folders and try to narrow it down to any specific folder? Or is it you still can't even get to the webpage? At any rate, IF you have AVG set correctly to scan EVERYTHING and nothing was found, then I think it may be safe to say no malicious codes are involved and the problem lies elsewhere. I wouldn't worry about it if the Housecall AV site is the only one you can't get to. There is a similar one at Symantec you can try; http://security1.norton.com/ssc/home.asp and click "scan for viruses". BTW, an ISP will NEVER admit to ANY problem, so you can never go by that. You can take what they say with the proverbial grain of salt. Although if you changed ISP's after the first problems, and still have the problem, in this case one of course can rule out an ISP "issue". If you've had the same ISP while this problem has been going on, then it is probably them if you have no HD infection. Disconnects should not be happening if you no longer have any "yellow marks" in the device manager, and if your HD is clean. If you use a software firewall, disconnect it for a while and see what happens. If you connect to the net from your NIC and use a router, it could have a firewall in it and you'll have to find out how to shut it down. In many cases you cannot disable a router's hardware firewall. It could also be problem with your modem, whether if it's a dialup, or a cable/DSL through the NIC. -Clint God Bless Us All Clint Hamilton, Owner http://OrpheusComputing.com ) ----- Original Message ----- knightwriter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I ran a scandisk and the error "This drives boot area contains important information that is damaged or invalid. This can cause windows to report the drives free space incorrectly or slowly. Scandisk repairs the boot are by recording the correct values in this area." I wasn't sure what to do so allowed scandisk to repair the error. I could not get the online scan to go so I then downloaded the latest version of AVG 6.0 anti-virus system free program. The AVG virus program so far has said there are no viruses detected. I was running Norton 2003 virus and firewall up till a few weeks ago when it seemed to be causing more problems, so I removed the program and haven't put it back on. There have been other times in the past a message would come up and say the information in the boot area has changed. I did not write those error messages down, I know I should have, but just let it correct the error. I have been sick for the past few years and let things slide. I am now getting better so feel like trying to fix this. I was using Earthlink for 4 years at least up until 2 months ago and switched from them to KCNet, a local ISP company where we live to see if that would help. Last week I called KCNet and they said since I was being disconnected and by the message, something on the computer was disconnecting it. They said it sounds like I have a worm and that the being disconnected and running slow while online was not from their end. I have not used Microsoft Outlook 2003 for several months now either, only getting my email online now. So I have not been sure if there has been a virus from a while back never gotten rid of. I am using IE latest version and when I am offline the computer runs fine and I have no error messages. Other than the boot area information message coming up and I don't know why that is happening. The hard drive is a Maxtor 19.0 GB that is almost new. I have 256mb ram installed. The motherboard is a Soyo KY-KY7 Dragon Plus AMD Socket-A based VIA KT266A ATX that is only ! a little over 2 years old. These problems only started happening this past 6 months maybe. When I fixed the VIA PCI 10/100mb Fast Ethernet Adaptor and got rid of the yellow exclamation mark in device manager, I do not know if it is from my imagination or what, but I haven't been being disconnected as much. I can't think of any other problem. Right now I really don't know what to do and if someone else would, it would be very appreciated. Thank you, Sandy "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: FIRST, BE SURE it's a v*rus. Go here http://housecall.trendmicro.com and let it scan your HD. Be SURE you select ALL of your folders, EVERYTHING in the scan. Even though it may not be a v-irus, reformatting might be all that will fix the problems. First let us know what the results are then you can go from there. --------- -Clint ----- Original Message ----- From: "knightwriter" I have went here http://housecall.trendmicro.com many times and the scan will not start. Has anyone else had this problem or is it just me. Thank you, Sandy ============= PCWorks Mailing List ================= Don't see your post? Check our posting guidelines & make sure you've followed proper posting procedures, http://pcworkers.com/rules.htm Contact list owner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribing and other changes: http://pcworkers.com =====================================================
